Sept. 17, 2005
Recap |
Final Stats
Maryland Head Coach Ralph Friedgen
On the game:
"This is a disappointing loss. We didn't play with enthusiasm that I'd hope we'd play with. I don't know really what the reason is and who should take responsibility for that. You know, we aren't running the ball; we are working hard on trying to do that. I knew this would be a tough [team] to run against. This is why they are one of the best teams in the country. We aren't coming home as well as we used to."
On the defense:
"Defensively, we aren't doing a good job up front. We can't get off blocks and make tackles. That is the biggest thing, obviously. They are doing a good job picking up our pressures. Maybe after four years, they are starting to see some of our stuff and pick up on it. If you look at what we need to do to get better is change some stuff around. People-wise, we are pretty limited. I have some pretty creative coaches, but we need to look at the right people. Maybe they aren't the right people. They just aren't getting off the blocks in the front."
On Jo Jo Walker:
"He is one tough nut. He took some shots and made some plays. He played almost the entire game. He has my respect big-time today."
On Vernon Davis:
"He played his heart out and played as hard as he possibly could today. I'm sure there were quite a few others."
On the back-to-back losses:
"I don't really concern myself with that. I play one game at a time. We've been in this position before. We're a young team. What is very important is that our players stay together, look at mistakes and see what we have to do to get better. We have to make our minds up as to where football is in our lives. Is it a priority? Is it something we want to be good at? If it is, we have to put more effort and heart into it."
On West Virginia:
"I knew how West Virginia was going to be; they were going to be ready to play. I don't know if it's a maturity thing or what. I tried to tell them all week how this game was going to be. They are a good football team."
Maryland Tight End Vernon Davis
On Jo Jo Walker:
"Jo Jo is the toughest kid for his size that I have ever met in my life. He takes some tough hits, but he always manages to hold onto the ball. He has a lot of heart. When I talk about Jo Jo, I use the word heart because he has a lot of it."
On the team:
"We still have a lot of games left that we should win. We have to stick together and try to pull them out and I think we can. On our team, we have guys that are tough. That is how I describe us. We are not scared of anything and we go all out. We just have to bounce back."
Maryland Cornerback Josh Wilson
On the defense:
"[West Virginia] does a lot of trickery; they are well coached and we expected that. We just have to play better assignment football. Sometimes when one guy misses an assignment, the other 10 guys have to make up for it. We were just late getting there today."
Maryland Linebacker D'Qwell Jackson
On the game:
"We just couldn't seem to win the battle up front. The front seven couldn't get a feel for their offense. They just ran the ball down our throats today, and there is nothing you can say to that. We have to come back from that. In my years here, we have never let a team run the ball on us like that. We have to go back and correct some things. It is early and I am still going to [hold] my head up high. It is just a disappointing feeling right now."
On the defense:
"When you are on the field, you are either going to make the play or you are not; either you are going to get beat or you are going to beat the person in front of you. We had spurts where we would stop them, but we have to be consistent."
Maryland Left Tackle Derek Miller
On Maryland's rushing attack:
"For some reason today, we couldn't get the run going. If you can't get the running game going, it's hard to win. This year, we haven't been able to run the ball at all. These past two games combined, we might have totaled 100 yards. If you can't run the ball, you're not going to win football games."
On team's enthusiasm:
"I don't think our enthusiasm today was any different than it usually is. West Virginia is a rival for us, and they got after us today and that shouldn't happen."
On what to take away from today's game:
"The game is over and there's nothing we can do about it anymore. We just have to get back to work on Monday and fix what we did wrong. We have to get our people with bumps and bruises healthy and go out and get Wake Forest next week."
On the team's mood:
"A loss is a loss and you have to take it, but the team's mood is not good. A couple of years ago we lost the first two games, then we bounced back and went on to a 10-win season. It's only the third game; we have eight more games to go. We have to put this game behind us and go out and win next week."
Maryland Quarterback Sam Hollenbach
On the offense:
"As an offense, we have to go out there ready to score every time we get the ball but we didn't do that today. We had too many drives that ended because of mistakes and you can't win like that."
On Jo Jo Walker:
"Jo Jo is a player who gives 100% every single time he's out there. He's a playmaker. On that 4th down play, I threw it a little low but he made the play to make me look good. When people make plays like that, it really helps everybody because we know that we're moving the chains. And that's all it comes down to -- making the plays when they count. He has no fear in practice or in games. He is going to catch everything that you throw him. If it's anywhere near him, he's going to get that ball and that's what makes him such a great playmaker.
On the two-point conversion attempt:
"We had a zone to the left and it was supposed to be a high-low between Vernon and Jo Jo. I felt the pressure and tried to give Jo Jo a pass to make the play. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Regardless of whether we made that play our not, we should have come back and gotten the ball in the end zone on the next drive."
On how the team can improve:
"We need to get tougher as a team. We need to be able to play through some things and get back to being a tough team. We're obviously not there right now and we need to get there on both ends. I think we're a little bit tentative right now. Offensively, we have to start pulling the trigger on some things and I'm definitely including myself in that."
West Virginia Head Coach Rich Rodriguez
On earning a tough win:
"I thought it was a hard-played game on both sides. Both teams battled to the end. I'm really proud of the way our guys hung in there. We kind of let them back in there in the fourth quarter, but we answered with a touchdown drive."
On the play of his quarterbacks:
"It's good to have two quarterbacks. Hopefully, Adam [Bednarik] will be OK. He could have come back in the end, but he wasn't 100 percent. But when Pat [White] goes in there, it's just like he's been there the whole time. He managed the game well and made a couple of big plays."
On the teams' youth:
"They've got some good young players, and I think our team does too. I think our best football is still ahead. We messed around and made some mistakes here and there, but you're going to expect that with a young team. Thankfully, it was a lesson learned and we still got a win."
On the West Virginia rushing attack:
"I was really proud of the way we ran the football. To run for close to 300 yards on Maryland is a tough feat. Not many people come into their place and do that. I'm really proud of our backs, our receivers and especially of our offensive line today."
On committing to the run:
"We have to run the ball. First, because it controls the clock a little bit and keeps our offense on the field. Second, because I think that's what we do well. The key for us is having different runs so they don't load up the box. I think one of the biggest keys today was that we ran a couple of reverses."
West Virginia Running Back Pernell Williams
On the game:
"It felt great. It was a tough fight. We knew they were going to come out and give us all they had. It was a tough crowd, but the team pulled together and came up with the win. This is huge as rivals. It feels pretty good."
On responding to the Maryland comeback:
"It says a lot. We had a lot of guys stepping up, including a lot of young guys. The team let down, but they stepped right back up. The offense knew that we had to go back out there and get a drive to keep the crowd out of the game. We knew we were going to have to make plays."
On Owen Schmitt's touchdown run:
"Owen is my guy. He's a fullback and tailback. He's a part of that five- or six-headed monster out there. He was playing like Mike Alstott, Jr."
West Virginia Quarterback Pat White
On his performance:
"I felt good, I knew that I was going to have to come in and step up. It's just nice to win the game. I was just trying to set up my teammates."
On the importance of the game:
"You have to get yourself pumped up, but you know that as a quarterback you have to stay calm. I just handed the ball off and the backs and the offensive line did all the work."
West Virginia Defensive Lineman Kevin Dykes
On the importance of the game:
"The first loss, whether it's to Maryland or to a Big East team is definitely a tough one to get over. It just feels good to come out of here with a win. It was a tough, hard-fought game, and it's hard to put into words just how good it is to get this win."
